Germany's Bayer banks on rising pet demand for sustained growth

Bayer AG, the Germany-based pharmaceutical and life sciences major, is banking on the growing demand for pets in China in the next five years to provide ample growth opportunities for the company in the pet care market.

Average spending on pets in China has risen in the last few years, thanks to the growing mid-income population in the country. According to an industry report from Goumin.com, a portal that tracks the pet community, the average annual spending on a pet dog or cat was 5,016 yuan ($746.6) in 2018, up 15 percent from the corresponding period in 2017.

Bayer, the company behind the top-selling pet deworming pills Drontal, said that increased pet spending and the desire to have more pets would be the main growth drivers for the company.